In the drive for ongoing improvements in operating efficiency, industrial plants such as chemical plants, refineries, food processing plants, pharmaceutical plants, breweries, and other batch and continuous plant systems may employ computer-based modeling and simulation of thermodynamic network systems to optimize plant operations. These modeling systems are typically used to simulate plant processes by defining components and equipment of plants in computer models and then using mathematical computations to project and/or to reveal the behavior of these systems as relevant parameters vary. An example of a thermodynamic network system is a pressure flow network comprising a plurality of nodes such as, for example, vessels, tanks, mixers and splitters, etc., and a plurality of flow components such as, for example, control valves, heat exchangers, etc.
This type of modeling may be used to aid in the design and operation of such plants, as well as to provide computer-based training of operators by simulating plant and process responses to variations that can arise in real-world situations without the hazards or costs associated with subjecting plants to these events. In addition, predictions can be made about plant behavior in order to devise tactics for handling such events, should they occur. This type of modeling can also be used to assist in controlling plant operations by predicting system changes and responding accordingly by tying the information produced by the models into control loops of plant equipment. Another use for this type of modeling is the optimization of tuning of process control elements in response to a system perturbation.